The statue is normally kept in the Shrine of Fatima in Portugal but will be in Rome this weekend for the consecration which is one of the highlights of the ongoing Year of Faith.
Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three shepherd children in the village of Fatima in Portugal in 1917. She warned of violent trials in the twentieth century if the world did not make reparation for sins. She urged prayer and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. John Preiss is President of the Fatima Family Apostolate in Alabama, U.S. and he spoke to Susy Hodges about the significance of this weekend’s events and the veneration of Our Lady of Fatima.
Listen to the full interview with John Preiss:
Preiss says Our Lady of Fatima “gives us a message of hope” and notes how at Pope Francis’s specific request, his pontificate was consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima on May 13th, her feast day. Asked whether this message of Fatima is sufficiently well known and appreciated, Preiss says there is a need for Catholics “to learn the message, to live the message and to spread the message” and agrees that it needs “to be publicized better.” He says the younger generations, in particular, lack the religious formation of the older generation and often have not been taught to pray the rosary at home as Our Lady of Fatima asked us to do.
Preiss also spoke about Blessed Pope John Paul’s known devotion to Our Lady of Fatima and how the bullet that a gunman fired at him during an attempted assassination attempt that occurred on the feast day of Fatima (May 13th, 1981) was donated to the crown adorning the head of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
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